Klondike
Description
Armed conflict hits home in the most vivid way imaginable when mortar fire decimates one wall of the farmhouse belonging to married Ukrainian couple Irka and Tolik. A subsequent plane crash nearby leaves the couple wondering if they should relocate but stubbornness sets in over being driven from their home by external forces. Winner of the Directing Award in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic competition and based on real events, Klondike unveils its harrowing story in striking widescreen compositions, often framed by the shattered space of Irka and Tolik’s living room. Set in 2014 when conflict in the Donbas region began, Maryna Er Gorbach’s powerful drama takes on even greater pertinence as a precursor to the current war in Ukraine.
Trailer
Biographies
After first studying at Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University in her native Ukraine, Maryna Er Gorbach graduated from Poland’s Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. Klondike (2022) is her first solo feature. In partnership with her husband, Mehmet Bahadir Er, she previously made Black Dogs Barking (2009), No Ofsayt (2009), Love Me (2013), and Omar and Us (2019). Of Klondike, she says, “In the crisis in Ukraine, which is now in the news again, my film brings the viewer to the ‘backstage’ of the news.”
